All is Fair in Love and War book 2
by PrimeEmily135
Summary: One year has passed since Ludwig's near assassination, and things have only escalated since. Raven hasn't been seen or heard from in months. And rumors are going around the Darklands that a new force is rising up against Bowser. But on the bright side, Peach and Bowser are becoming better friends. BxP LudwigxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Heeeey everybodyyyy! :) **

**Thank you to everybody who stuck with this series! Updates will continue to be very slow due to unplotted chapters and a lot of other stuff keeping me busy, but I will not forget this story! That is a promise :)**

**Now! Without further ado, may I present "All is Fair in Love and War" book 2! :)**

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_"Count Bleck will not stop until the king of the Darklands is on his knees." The Count said, looking around at his circle of minions with a disappointed glare. "It seems he has chosen poorly on whom to send first to accomplish his work…" The king of the mountain lands bowed his head in shame and the Count moved on down the line to a few other faces. "Perhaps Bleck should send someone closer to this nemesis to tear him apart from the inside out?"_

_He looked at the large Dragon Koopa across from him with a gleam in his eyes. "This time, he shall send one familiar with the present King. Brawn, you are Bleck's chosen one."_

_Bleck stood up, his cape falling down around his feet as he walked around the circle of chairs. He savored the confused faces of his underlings in his operation. They all seemed surprised that he would pick the Koopa, but it slowly made sense. Brawn was Bowser's older brother. He continued going around until he saw a hand shoot up into the air. The boy had dark hair and bright blue\green eyes. "Yes?"_

_The boy stood up, looking him in the eyes as he spoke, an action not many of his subjects could muster. "I would like to help sir."_

_He looked down at him, a small smile of amusement playing across his dark face. "Bleck would send you, but if your master's last attempt was such a failure Bleck has little faith in your abilities." He pushed the boy back down by his shoulders. "That Raven girl was a little disappointing Bleck must say…" the boy looked a little alerted by this, but remained sitting._

_"At the next possible opportunity, we will strike again. This time, no one will stand against Bleck's wrath! Bleh-heh-heh-heck!"_

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**One Year Later…**

The wind whipped strands of her raven black hair into the air as she ran. Her footsteps echoed loudly against the concrete in her hasty pursuit, and her breath came in silent gasps. Her body was hurting, blood pouring down the side of her face, but she couldn't stop. She had to keep up the chase. She couldn't let her victim get away. She had only failed once to kill her target, and that wasn't going to happen ever again.

With a grunt, Raven pulled herself over the stair railing and plummeted down to the floor three stories below her. Her sweat soaked hair flipped up into her face as she fell, but she paid it no mind. She hit the ground hard and felt her ankle twist, but she didn't stop. Just down the hall she could hear the desperate footsteps of someone running away. She was getting closer and closer by the second.

Panting in her haste, she remained hot in pursuit. Her fingers itched to grab at the blade concealed in her left boot, but knew that if she slowed even the slightest she wouldn't be able to catch Pantho. The Koopa was fast for how slow he looked, but she didn't have time to think about it. All she had time to do was catch up.

She could see the koopa's blue shelled back now, and a smile cracked across her face. They were in the perfect position. Right close by was a window she could climb out to avoid the guards that were chasing her. She could hear the alarm bell ringing, but it was drowned out by the blood pounding in her ears. _So_ _close_…

Finally, when she began to doubt that she could catch him, the koopa tripped. He stumbled, trying to get up and run again, but it was already too late. She was upon him now. His fate was sealed.

Raven pounced on the koopa, pinning him to the ground with her knee. Her sweat dripped from her face and onto his, and his cringed in disgust. But she smiled in victory, pulling the knife from her combat boot. "Did you really think-…-you could get away?" she panted, holding the knife to his throat shakily. She was exhausted, drained of all energy, and it was beginning to show. "Tell me-…-what I want to know!"

The koopa looked up at her, a maniacal grin spreading across his face. Raven was a little taken aback when he laughed at her. "Foolish girl! I will never talk! I have more fear of the Count then I do of death! And besides-" Raven gasped as she felt a blade pierce into her side. "-I am not completely defenseless." Raven cried out in pain as the blade twisted in her side and the koopa continued to laugh.

With an agonized cry, she brought her knife down on his wrist and severed his hand from his body. The knife remained in her side but she didn't pull it out. Instead, she quickly cut through the man's throat before he could scream. Blood spluttered as he coughed, desperately covering his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. But he soon stilled, his eyes losing their life.

Raven stood up painfully, hearing a slick noise as she pulled the knife from her body. She probably should have left it in, but she couldn't function with it protruding from her side. She shoved it into her boot along with hers and started to run. She could feel the blood soaking her shirt and grimaced in pain. With a last look down the hall she saw that the guards had spotted her. She didn't have enough time to get away.

Making a desperate attempt to dash for the window she jumped out into the night air. She could feel a sword slicing across her back, but it was just a scratch and it was the least of her worries. She was fifteen stories away from the ground and falling fast.

She flailed her arms uselessly with a frustrated scream as she plummeted towards the earth. In the split seconds she had to think her mind raced, but not in the direction she thought it would. _Nico_…

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_"__Buck it up buttercup. It could have been worse." Nico smiled at her encouragingly, helping her up to her feet again. "You'll make it next time." _

_She brushed herself off with a noise of frustration. "Next time's not good enough! I have to be able to do it _now_ not later…" she had just gone through a training exercise and fell, _again_, down the side of the building. Luckily he had been there to catch her. "I have to pass this test Nico, my father will be livid if I fail it again."_

_Nico turned a little grim at the mention of her father, and he sighed heavily. "You just need to practice. You're almost there, I can see it. You just need to pick yourself up and try again. I made it, and you will too." He gave her a small smile and pointed up the climbing building. "Now get up there. Beat me to the top. 'Cuz I'm not leaving this academy without my little partner."_

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Her eyes snapped open. Death was just yards away… and she had thought about Nico? Of all things she could possibly reminisce about her life, she thought about him?

The ground was nearly upon her. Closing her eyes tightly, she braced herself for the sudden impact. She hoped it would be painless and quick. She didn't want to die a long agonizing death. When she was younger she hadn't been afraid of dying, but now? Now she wished with all her soul to be given the chance to live.

It was like a cold sweep of air. She could feel darkness all around her. And when she opened her eyes again she wasn't falling anymore. She had somehow been pulled into a vacant room, icy and foreboding. A laugh like nothing she had ever heard before echoed around her, in her head. "You can't die just _yet_ my dear, says Count Bleck. Bleh-heh-heh-heck!" And with that, all light of the world faded.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings all my faithfull readers, and random fanfiction browsers! ;)**  
**It has been some time since my stories have been updated, but it is summer now and I am ready with a few updates! :)**  
**I posted up a poll on my profile, I didn't advertise it very much, but some of you put in your votes and I picked the most wanted stories to update first :) (There was actually a four way tie, so I just went with what I could get out first ;) **  
**Enjoy this next installment, I hope to have more out before the summer is over :) (Because goodness knows I'm not good at updating during the school semester)**

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The Brawl Stadium was filled with loud cheers as the four contestants stepped out and took their respective places on the field. Back by popular demand, Bowser was a special guest at the games. Since they had founded the more violent sport, the Mushroom kingdom and many others had come to appreciate, almost root for, the Darklandian king for what talents he possessed. And no one would miss a match with him against the two Mario brothers. The two plumbers were practically regular contestants by now, and they were even more popular than they were before. Fans cheered their names in chants, shouting at the tops of their lungs hoping to be heard by the two super stars. Lastly, although she was normally so peaceful, Princess Peach had joined the day's match. When she walked onto the field she smiled and waved politely to the cameras, taking off her white gloves and throwing them aside.

Bowser smiled at Peach, giving her a sly wink as he took his place for the battle on the side opposite her. She rolled her eyes with a slight blush and walked over to greet him quickly before the game started. His grin broadened when Mario gave him an uneasy glare.

"Well, I wasn't so sure you were going to show up Bowser." Peach propped her hand on her hip, inspecting her fingernails in a seemingly careless fashion but he saw the playfulness hiding in her large sapphire eyes.

"I was surprised to have gotten an invitation from you personally. I couldn't easily turn that down." He replied, crossing his arms smugly. He faintly heard the announcer saying something about him and Peach but he chose to ignore it.

She punched his arm softly. "Couldn't very well kick off the season without you."

"Hey now, save that for the match." He chuckled, savoring the sound of her laugh.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get a few good punches on me to make up for it." She assured, about to turn back before he caught her hand.

"You know I could never hit you." He said, raising her ungloved hand to his lips, making her blush darken and Mario's glare go sour when she didn't pull away. "Not even in a sport." She went quiet at that, her gaze turning almost thoughtful. The moment seemed to go on forever before he was able to think of something else to say. "Hey, care to make a wager?"

She looked up at him, already smiling again. "Sure."

"You win, I'll buy lunch for you and the dumb plumbs over there." He gestured at the brothers mockingly, watching as she nodded in agreement.

"And what if you win?"

"I'll just buy lunch for you."

Peach opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by the referee asking her politely to return to her corner so the game could start. Bowser laughed at her look of frustration and crossed his arms as he waited for the clock to count down to start time. His gaze flicked over to Mario when he heard the plumber whistling to get his attention. Their eyes locked and his eyebrows bent down into a V.

"You're going down." The red clad plumber mouthed at him, his eyes narrowing as Bowser didn't react beyond a bored yawn.

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No sooner had the bell rang and Luigi was already thrown off of the platform by Bowser, leaving him with only Mario to worry about for a few minutes until the other brother could find his way back up. He felt a fireball hit his back, and saw Peach dart around him with a flower. She jumped up onto an upper platform, pulling herself up with all her strength, and was soon firing upon him again. Bowser raised his arm to block the annoying rain of fire and searched around the ring for Mario. The red plumber had managed to pick up a wooden baseball bat and was currently sneaking up on Luigi. The green clad plumber shouted with protest as he was once again knocked down from the platform.

A bell tolled and that marked the end for Luigi.

_One down, one to go._ Bowser wasn't worried about Peach being a problem. He knew she often just fell off on her own, and if she was still in the ring when he finished off Mario he would simply bow out. He wouldn't chance harming her for the sake of sport. Being just barely able to call himself her friend he didn't want to risk looking like he was up to his old tricks again. The media hated him enough at the moment as it was, he couldn't risk anything to compromise the unsteady peace between the Mushroom and Darklands kingdoms… and on a completely unrelated note: he liked seeing her blush in embarrassment.

Mario now turned to face the king of the Darklands, his eyes dark with hatred. Bowser merely smirked and dodged the misaimed blow, and backhanded the plumber in the head. "Come on now Mario, is that really the best you got?" Mario glared in response to the mockery. "Not so tough without your one-ups are you?" He laughed and let a steady jet of flame out of his maw. Mario quickly jumped back, knocking into Peach in the process.

Peach shrieked as she lost her balance and fell over the edge of the platform.

"Peach!" Bowser quickly snapped in her direction, seeing her small gloved hands grasping at the platform. Her small call of 'I'm okay!' caused him to calm, and chuckle as she attempted to drag herself back up.

"I'ma gonna finish you Bowsa!" Mario shouted charging at the dragon Koopa with the baseball bat. The plumber made it obvious to put himself between the Darklandian King and the princess, and Bowser growled lowly.

The next couple of seconds were a bit of a blur as he and Mario duked it out in front of the live audience. Bowser could hear the roar of anger and hatred among the crowd, but also the cheers and he wondered briefly exactly which were directed towards him. That thought of course was cut short as Mario tried to uppercut him, which he quickly dodged. Clawed hands raked the air towards the plumber and his vision was taken over by a colorful haze. He could see Peach sneaking up on Mario, fire-flower still in hand, completely unaware of the way her plumber's eyes shone with bloodlust. Suddenly, this wasn't a game anymore. Mario was fighting like he did when princess Peach was captured: brutally. The plumber didn't care who got hurt now; his only thought was to maim Bowser in some way.

Realizing this, Bowser's smug confidence disappeared. "Peach, watch out!" He called, but too late. When she surprise attacked the plumber, Mario shoved her away and she fell off the platform.

"Stay outta this Peach!" Mario yelled over the sound of the crowd, not even seeing that she fallen off. Bowser growled, vision going red.

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At that point, he must have received some sort of power-up, as the next thing he knew the match was over and Mario was gone. _Probably sulking off in a corner somewhere nursing his bruises._ Bowser blinked, registering that the noise of the crowd was gone, and furthermore there were two sapphire blue eyes looking into his with concern.

"owser?"

He blinked again, realizing that his ears were clogged.

"Bow-ser? Bowser, can you hear me?"

"King Dad!"

"Ugh…" He growled, hand coming up to cup the side of his head. He was sitting down in a recovery room, the white walls unmistakable. "What happened?"

Peach smiled softly, and Junior came to stand beside her. "You practically threw Mario into the stands after I fell off, but he clunked you in the head pretty bad…" the princess looked over him in concern but Junior just crossed his arms.

"Nobody can beat King Dad! Mario was a stupid-butt for trying."

"Junior!" Peach reprimanded him, and Bowser chuckled at the scowl on his son's face. Peach turned her attention back to the King, brushing some of his feathery red hair behind one of his horns. "I've invited you and Junior to stay a while, just to be sure you're okay. –The media and all... heh." She added quickly, her cheeks blushing that nice pink color he liked. Looking away quickly, she rummaged around in a cupboard until she found an icepack. "We probably should avoid a situation between Mario and you in the future, it just causes bad press."

Bowser nodded with a grunt, accepting the cooling pack that she offered to him. "I believe that would be wise. I think I'd kill him if I ever saw him push you again…" he growled, wincing as he applied the cold ice pack to his head.

"Bowser, its just a game-" she started to object, her expression becoming exasperated. He growled, successfully silencing her next few words. She stared at him inquisitively as he glared past her.

"It doesn't matter if it's a game or not, I would _never_ have laid a hand on you." He felt his throat heat up with fire, but kept it down. "If he cares about you like you say he does, he shouldn't let his hatred for me affect the way of how he treats you. I know I don't. You are far too precious to me…"

Peach swallowed discretely, her cheeks flushing pink. "Well…um, it's really okay. Nobody got seriously injured… I mean-" Bowser smirked at her flustered appearance, chuckling as she scowled at him. "Bowser, how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying stuff like that?"

This time he smiled, and taking her hand in his, he leveled her with his most flirtatious stare. "Just once more I suppose..."

"EEww!" Junior mock-gagged, turning away so he didn't have to see them being all 'mushy'.

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